Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) joined his House colleagues in voting for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. The bill passed by an overwhelming majority of 350 to 80.
“Today, sound public policy won out over partisan politics with the House passage of the National Defense Authorization Act,” said Bacon. “For the 62nd consecutive year, Congress has prioritized our national security interests by modernizing our conventional and nuclear deterrence capabilities, supporting military families, and bolstering our ability to deter aggression and defeat threats from foreign adversaries. I applaud my colleagues in the House and Senate for their bipartisanship commitment to our national defense.”
Of particular note to the Bellevue/Offutt community are these authorizations:
1. An increase of $235 million in military construction to complete flood reconstruction at Offutt Air Force Base.
“My biggest lift in the last six years has been fighting to get supplemental funding to rebuild the base approved by the committees just six weeks after the devastating flood occurred in 2019,” Bacon said. “The total bill for clean-up, reconstruction, temporary facility preparation, replacement of critical mission equipment, and construction of new facilities likely exceeds $1 billion.”
The $235 million authorized in this year’s NDAA completes the multi-year battle to secure the remaining funds necessary to get the new Operations Facility on contract. When reconstruction is complete, Offutt AFB will be one of the world’s most modern, resilient, and energy efficient military installations in the world.
Bacon added, “Combined with the new runway and levee improvements, this reconstruction will guarantee Offutt’s future well into the 21st Century.”
2. An increase of $20 million for USSTRATCOM’s nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) rapid engineering architecture collaboration hub (REACH) initiative at Offutt AFB.
Bacon was an early advocate for STRATCOM’s expanded role in the centralized management DoD’s NC3 enterprise. “Nuclear deterrence underpins every strategic and operational plan in our military and is a top priority for our Department of Defense. Our ability to detect, prevent and respond to a nuclear attack is only as effective as our ability to command, control, and communicate throughout the nuclear enterprise.”
Bacon led the effort to support the Research, Engineering, Architecture, and Engineering Hub or “REACH” initiative at Offutt AFB. In partnership with industry and the University of Nebraska, REACH will play a critical role in accelerating partnerships with industry to support the NC3 mission.
Bacon and his team secured a $20 million increase for the REACH effort being led by the Nebraska Defense Research Corporation (NDRC) in support of STRATCOM’s NC3 Enterprise Center.
3. An increase of approximately $1 billion for procurement and modernization of four EC-37B “Compass Call” electronic warfare replacement aircraft operated by the 55th Wing.
“The Electronic Warfare mission is essential to our ability to deter and defeat adversaries in conflict. The EC-37 replaces the antiquated EC-130 as the Air Force’s sole dedicated EW platform,” Bacon said. “Between Depot maintenance, training and operations, there is no way the Air Force could support the demand for these aircraft that we are seeing right now in the European and Pacific theaters with a fleet of only 6 aircraft.”
Originally the Air Force supported a fleet of ten EC-37s. That was reduced to six due to fiscal constraints. Bacon and his team worked with the Air Force and the committees in the House and Senate to secure authorization for the remaining four aircraft.
